1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical methods and compositions. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and compositions for treating and imaging regions of inflammation in body lumens such as vulnerable plaque in the vasculature.
Coronary artery disease resulting from the build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries is a leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. The plaque build-up causes a narrowing of the artery, commonly referred to as a lesion, which reduces blood flow to the myocardium (heart muscle tissue). Myocardial infarction (better known as a heart attack) can occur when an arterial lesion abruptly closes the vessel, causing complete cessation of blood flow to portions of the myocardium. Even if abrupt closure does not occur, blood flow may decrease resulting in chronically insufficient blood flow which can cause significant tissue damage over time.
A variety of interventions have been proposed to treat coronary artery disease. For disseminated disease, the most effective treatment is usually coronary artery bypass grafting where problematic lesions in the coronary arteries are bypassed using external grafts. In cases of less severe disease, pharmaceutical treatment is often sufficient. Finally, focal disease can often be treated intravascularly using a variety of catheter-based approaches, such as balloon angioplasty, atherectomy, radiation treatment, stenting, and often combinations of these approaches.
With the variety of treatment techniques which are available, the cardiologist is faced with a challenge of selecting the particular treatment which is best suited for an individual patient. While numerous of diagnostic aids have been developed, no one technique provides all the information which is needed to select a treatment. Angiography is very effective in locating lesions in the coronary vasculature, but provides little information concerning the nature of the lesion. To provide better characterization of the lesion(s), a variety of imaging techniques have been developed for providing a more detailed view of the lesion, including intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), angioscopy, laser spectroscopy, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the like. None of these techniques, however, is completely successful in determining the exact nature of the lesion. In particular, such techniques provide little information regarding whether the plaque is stable or unstable.
Plaques which form in the coronaries and other vessels comprise inflammatory cells, smooth muscles cells, cholesterol, and fatty substances, and these materials are usually trapped between the endothelium of the vessel and the underlying smooth muscle cells. Depending on various factors, including thickness, composition, and size of the deposited materials, the plaques can be characterized as stable or unstable. The plaque is normally covered by an endothelial layer. When the endothelial layer is disrupted, the ruptured plaque releases highly thrombogenic constituent materials which are capable of activating the clotting cascade and inducing rapid and substantial coronary thrombosis. Such rupture of an unstable plaque and the resulting thrombus formation can cause unstable angina chest pain, acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), sudden coronary death, and stroke. It has recently been proposed that plaque instability, rather than the degree of plaque build-up, should be the primary determining factor for treatment selection.
A variety of approaches for distinguishing stable and unstable plaque in patients have been proposed. Some of the proposals involve detecting a slightly elevated temperature within unstable plaque resulting from inflammation. Other techniques involve exposure of the plaque to infrared light. It has also been proposed to introduce radio labeled materials which have been shown by autoradiography to bind to stable and unstable plaque in different ways. External detection of the radiolabels, however, has limited the sensitivity of these techniques and makes it difficult to determine the precise locations of the affected regions. It would therefore be of great benefit to provide for improved radiolabels, compositions, and protocols for detecting vulnerable plaque and other inflammatory luminal conditions.
Once vulnerable plaque has been detected, it would be of significant benefit to provide methods for treating that plaque to reduce the risk of rupture and abrupt closure. Conventional intravascular treatments for stenotic lesions, such as angioplasty, atherectomy, and stenting may have only limited value in treating vulnerable plaques and in some instances might actually induce acute thrombosis at the site of the vulnerable plaque. Thus, it would be desirable to provide methods and compositions for treating vulnerable plaque to lessen the risk of rupture and abrupt closure.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,197,278; 6,171,577 and 5,968,477 describe the preparation of radio labeled annexins and their use for imaging thrombus in the vasculature. US2003/0152513A1 suggests the delivery of conversion electrons for imaging vulnerable plaque. Stratton et al. (1995) Circulation 92:3113-3121, considers the use of radio labeled annexin V for intra-arterial thrombus detection. The use of radio labeled agents for detecting atherosclerotic lesions is described in the medical literature. See, for example, Elmaleh et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:691-695; Vallabhajosula and Fuster (1997) J. Nucl. Med. 38:1788-1796); Demos et al. (1997) J. Pharm. Sci. 86:167-171; Narula et al. (1995) Circulation 92: 474-484; and Lees et al. (1998) Arteriosclerosis 8:461-470. U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,563, describes the injection of radio labeled lipoproteins into a patient where the lipoproteins are taken up into regions of arteriosclerotic lesions to permit early detection of those lesions using an external scintillation counter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,814, describes and intravascular radiation-detecting catheter. The catheter is used to locate tagged red blood cells that may accumulate, for example, in an aneurysm. U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,133, describes a laparoscopic probe for detecting radiation concentrated in solid tissue tumors. Miniature and flexible radiation detectors intended for medical use are produced by Intra-Medical LLC, Santa Monica, Calif. (www.intra-medical.com). See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,647,445; 4,877,599; 4,937,067; 5,510,466; 5,711,931; 5,726,153; and WO 89/10760.
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